2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for PR?

The Mars Orbit Insertion is a critical 30-minute phase, during which the Hope Probe, Arab world’s first interplanetary mission, will go completely dark while attempting to enter the orbit. We wanted everyone to feel involved in these moments of anticipation. We created the First Emoji Prayer, a simple yet powerful combination of just three Emojis that enable people to participate in a crucial inflection point in the UAE’s history. An innovative digital prayer that transcends language & ethnicity. With just three emojis, we’ve sparked a movement & within a day of introducing, the prayer garnered over 85 million impressions.

Background

After traveling through space for 7 months, the Hope Probe was about to reach Mars and enter into orbit. The Mars Orbit Insertion is the most critical phase of this groundbreaking mission. However, successfully accomplishing it is highly challenging: The Hope Probe has to slow down from 121,000 km/h to 18,000 km/h autonomously to be captured into Mars’s orbit and travel around its dark side. A maneuver that takes approximately 30 minutes, during which the control centre on Earth has no connection with it. The objectives of the Hope Probe go way beyond the science; aiming to further human knowledge and inspire the next generation of young Arabs to enter the field of science. With this in mind, we wanted to leverage the critical milestone of the Orbit Insertion to bring the spirit of the mission to life, thereby uniting the people of the country and the region at large.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Since there could be no human intervention during the Mars Orbit Insertion phase, an entire country would be waiting for a signal. With the dream of a nation at stake, the only thing we could do was pray. And that’s what we did with the first Emoji Prayer: A prayer that brought together 2 century-old antitheses: science and faith. A universal prayer that transcends language, border & ethnicity. A digital prayer you can Tweet. And that Emoji Prayer consisted of: 1- Palms up Emoji: based on the same hand gesture made in the Arab world to supplicate; symbolizing support and prayers for the success of the Hope Probe 2- A rocket Emoji: symbolizing the Hope Probe 3- A red circle Emoji: symbolizing Mars The Emoji Prayer provided people with an emotional tool to send prayers and root for the success of the Hope Probe, the UAE, and Arabs overall.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

After years of grueling effort and being prepared for any unforeseen circumstance, there will be a time when the mission team will have no control on making the Hope Probe successfully enter the Martian orbit. The roller coaster of emotions that an entire nation & the region would be going through in those minutes of the Hope Probe going ‘dark’ was unimaginable. This is what gave way to our strategy – to make people become part of this huge milestone, we need to make them experience & feel the multitude of emotions the team behind the mission would be going through and give them a tool to root for the mission’s success. We decided to create video assets that will engage the viewers and make them feel involved in the probe’s journey. The Emoji prayer would be used as a call to action to invite them to express their support.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

We launched an emotional film & three mini episodes that take the audience through the probe’s journey from its start to the point of entering the Martian orbit, ending with a call to action for everyone to pray for Hope. A vast number of local, regional and global influencers joined the movement by posting the Emoji Prayer on Twitter. We created a Snapchat lens that allowed people to share a prayer and our message. The campaign extended across different media, including social, digital, print, radio & outdoor. On print, we created the first ever Emoji newspaper headline in one of the leading dailies in the UAE. The Emoji Prayer was aired in prime locations and landmarks, on the Burj Khalifa skyscraper, as well as outdoor displays. In addition, we also created a Red Skyline, which turned various landmarks red, across the UAE, to celebrate the Hope’s arrival to Mars.

List the results (30% of vote)

After launching the First Emoji Prayer, we realized that people were in fact looking for a means to express their excitement, joy & anticipation for the Hope Probe reaching Mars and the three simple Emojis became just that. Within just a day of introducing the Emoji Prayer, it has already garnered over 85 million impressions and counting. Over 3000 people have already used it in their Tweets to express a variety of emotions. And with the campaign still in progress, we’re seeing the Emoji Prayer gaining momentum day by day.